


Wait...What (A series of drabbles)

by Firekittylol, Murderbirb



Series: Wait What Universe [2]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: :), As any teenage wyrm would be, Drabble Collection, Explaining wyrms, Ghost is chaotic, Growing Up, HAAAVVVEEE FUUUNNN, Hornet is very aggressive, I beg of you, I invite you to call me out, It works like Charles Bonnet Syndrome, Lurien is a butterfly, Lurien needs therapy, Mentions of Mating Cycles, Monomon could you refrain from getting Lurien all flustered FOR FIVE MINUTES, Multi, Oh wow, Other, PK doesn't like being woke up, PK's foresight is not kind to him, Poor Hollow has anxiety, Quirrel is Monomon’s son, Scary phantom images, There is a call out post here, WE HAVE A STORY ARC, We are going through an arc, Welcome to the first (and maybe only) Ao3 fic to have the Lurien/Monomon ship!, a chapter of the imprisonment arc that's actually heartwarming, and nesting cycles, call me out please, chapter 10 is a call out post, comment it, hollow uses sign language, if you find a mistake, its full of angst, its not going to last tho, olease, pk is intersex, so get ready for more emotional stuff, what a change, you can fight me on this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 19,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28156623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firekittylol/pseuds/Firekittylol, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murderbirb/pseuds/Murderbirb
Summary: A series of silly drabbles, from explain Wyrm biology, to taking bets about whether or not PK has hips, you’ll find lots of little ideas hereFun fact: All of the chapters are written really late at night!
Relationships: Grimm/The Pale King (Hollow Knight), Lurien the Watcher/Monomon the Teacher (Hollow Knight), The Pale King/White Lady (Hollow Knight)
Series: Wait What Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123343
Comments: 220
Kudos: 201





	1. Explaining things

The three royal children had been talking for quite a while, they had all begun experiencing strange things. Like the urge to nest, the eldest had become more territorial and a bit aggressive towards strangers, their sister was experiencing a heightening of her senses on overwhelming levels, the youngest was fine, but they were worried about their siblings. 

‘Maybe we should just ask dad. This is obviously a wyrm thing, right?’ Ghost signed.

“Absolutely not!” Hornet snapped, she hadn’t meant to, and that just proved that Ghost was right. It would be better to know what was going on.

She did not want to talk to their father though, and no one could convince her to, except Ghost was giving her the puppy eyes. 

“F-fine...we’ll talk to father.” she said

He didn’t leave home often, so he was very easy to find, plus he was literally in the next room, sitting on the couch reading a book.

Hollow walked in front of him and crouched down, ‘Father’ they signed, ‘Could you answer some questions for us please?’

He closed the book he’d been reading and set it aside, “Of course, what do you need to know?”

‘Could you teach us about… wyrm biology?’ 

“Oh.” He wasn’t surprised, he knew he’d have to explain eventually, “I’ll do my best, but i’m not certain how much of my genetics are being expressed in you three. Could you perhaps explain what you’re experiencing?”

Ghost climbed onto the couch and frantically signed, the wyrm had to ask them to slow down. ‘They’re both being mean to everyone!’

“Mean?”

‘Sister is yelling all the time and sib keeps hissing at people!’

He looked at the two elder siblings, then back at Ghost, “When they get near?”

‘Yes!’

“So, they’re becoming more territorial…” He looked at them, “Have either of you had a nesting season yet?”

The confused looks on his childrens’ faces was all the answer he needed.

“I...hm. I suppose you wouldn’t be old enough. Is it just territorial behavior and aggression?” 

“No.” Hornet said, “Heightened senses as well, it feels like I'm seeing through multiple pairs of eyes.”

“Ah, yes, I know what that’s like.” Wyrm said, he could still remember the migraines it caused, “Well, since I now have a better idea of what you’re going through, I should explain. You may want to sit down for this.”

Hollow went to sit next to Ghost on the couch, causing their father to move over so they could all fit, Hornet preferred to stand. 

“Alright, everyone listening?” He got nods, “good, this isn’t exactly easy to explain...how to start…” he thought for a moment, “Well, to begin, there’s no need to worry, what you’re experiencing is perfectly normal for wyrmlings. I honestly would’ve been more worried if you hadn’t become more territorial, and the heightening of your senses is normal as well. It marks the nearing of your first nesting season.”

“ _ Nesting season _ ?” Hornet asked, concern and scrutiny clear in her voice.

“The nesting season is not a mating season.” he reassured her, “Those happen at different times and will have different tells. The nesting season happens every few years, you’ll know when it starts due to an increase in appetite, urges to build a nest, extreme mood swings, and after a week or two of that you go into a six week hibernation. The mating season is similar, with appetite increase and a week long hibernation afterwards, the mating season itself lasts about 8 weeks… it happens every 10 or so years.”

Hornet gave a sigh of relief, “so..the nesting season...what should we expect with that?”

“It’s...different for everyone.” he started, “but..ha. I don’t usually remember much from my nestings, but Root once told me about a time when I had, apparently, taken to curling up in her roots and the train of her dress. I once woke up covered in moss, according to one of the retainers I had torn the pillows open to get to the stuffing…” He saw the looks on his childrens’ faces, “I’ve done some odd things, you’ll have to ask Root if you want more interesting stories…” 

‘And the mating season?’ Hollow signed, this earned a surprised look from their father, and a hesitant and angered look from their sister.

“The mating season…” Wyrm said, “feels incredibly different. For more reason than one… Wyrms are naturally born intersex, so during the mating season our bodies often carry a clutch of unfirtileized eggs. I’m uncertain if this applies to you three though. But if you do begin going through this, I do have some tips to make it easier.”

“And...those are?” Hornet asked

“Don’t ignore your body. If you feel hungry, eat, if you're tired, sleep, if you need...company...then just allow it. Trying to ignore it just makes it worse, just makes the mating season last longer. I once ignored my hunger during a mating season, it did not go well. Nearly ate a retainer.” He laughed nervously, “And isolation doesn’t work either...tried that. Didn’t go well…”

“hm...and...What would happen if a mating season and nesting season somehow aligned?”

“Ah--” He started, thought, and answered, “Ha, I don’t know, that’s not something that's ever happened to me, and I've never heard about it happening to others… though I suppose it’s possible.” He just laughed, what a silly question, ah well. At least they’re curious. “Any who, there’s no need to worry. What you’re going through is perfectly normal.”

This put the children at ease, at least they knew nothing was wrong. After thanking him they went back to their day, leaving their father to chuckle about how silly it is that parents dread explaining such things. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm sure you can see where this is going. Mostly funny drabbles, but there are some aspects that will be taken over to other chapters


	2. Foresight and Phantom Images

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PK's foresight shows him something he wasn't expecting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always HC-ed that PK's foresight worked like Charles Bonnet Syndrome... so, I decided to do something with that

“Uh…” the Pale Wyrm stared wide eyed at what he was seeing, a bright purple flower with the most hideously terrifying eye in the center. It dripped with a sickly black substance, but it wasn’t void, he could tell. Don’t ask how, he just could. It blinked at him, and he looked around to see if anyone else saw this, if not then he could guess that it was simply his foresight blending two realities together in his vision. 

No one else was bothered, but his dear friend, and loyal ex-knight, Ogrim looked at him with concern. 

“Dear friend,” he said, putting a hand on the smaller one’s shoulder, “Are you alright?” 

He didn’t know what to say, physically yes. He was fine, but this odd phantom of his foresight was causing distress. If he was honest, then he’d be asked to explain the vision, and what it meant. However, he didn’t know what it meant, or why he was seeing this, or really what this odd plant was. 

“Y-yes...everything is fine.” He said, adding false confidence to his last words to convince the other that he was being truthful. Ogrim seemed satisfied, as he continued forward through the crossroads to Dirtmouth. Wyrm lingered a moment, still looking at that blinking flower before turning back to his path, and following.

Ogrim went to one of the shops, and Wyrm had decided to visit Grimm in his tents on the outskirts of town. He looked over briefly, and saw that plant again, in front of the well. It was different now, surrounded by blooming flowers like it, dead tree branches twisting around them, a very tall creature standing behind it. The image faded halfway up the creatures’ legs, but he could still tell it was tall. He inhaled sharply, then turned, quickly trying to get inside, he ran straight into Grimm. 

“Ah!” he looked up at his friend, “My apologies. I didn’t see you there…”

“I can tell!” Grimm said in his usual, jovial, theater voice, “I saw you standing out here and came to ask what it was you were looking at. Though, just glancing about, I don’t see a thing. So, tell me Dear Wyrm, what has caused you so much distress?” 

The former king looked back at the well, the image had faded to near nothing, but he looked down, and could see sickly balck vines at his feet. “Could we, perhaps, discuss this inside?” he asked, looking back up. Curse Grimm’s height.

“Of course darling!” Grimm would’ve smiled if he couldn’t see the obvious fear on his friends face, and lead him inside. After asking a table and chairs be set up in a private room, they sat in silence for a good ten minutes before anyone spoke. “So...my friend, I do not mean to pry, but what had you so shaken?”

“Oh,” he gave a humorless laugh, “My foresight has been messing with my vision again, I had not been expecting to see flowers with eyes and strange creatures on my way here. I apologize for causing you worry.”

Grimm did laugh at this, “Flowers with eyes?” then he stopped laughing, thinking, “Sounds familiar… Perhaps I had heard something similar in a far off land while harvesting the nightmares it provided.”

“...”

“Though it also could’ve been an old folktale told to the children to keep them from running off.”

“...”

“But I suppose when you have a future telling ability that tends to blend realtities together in the eyes of its wielder you could see anything!”  
“Ha.” there was no humor or mirth, “Hahahaha, of course. You’re absolutely right, just multiple possibilities overlapping one another. It’s probably nothing.” 

“See?” Grimm didn’t seem to catch on, “Not everything you see will mean something!” he laughed, “I hear your children are entering adulthood. From your letter, it sounds like Hollow is going to have their first nesting season soon.” 

The change of subject is exactly what Wyrm needs, “Oh yes! I don’t think they realize it yet to be quite honest. And how is your little one? Ghost misses them quite terribly.”

“Oh that little trouble maker got grounded.” He responded

The rest of the day went like that, with the two gods talking about recent developments and telling stories about the silly things people around them have done. Neither of them normally engage in gossip, but it was a nice distraction.

The Wyrm didn’t think about what he’d seen till after he’d gone to sleep. Those horrid plants plagued his dreams.


	3. Why would you wake me up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herrah can't seem to find Hornet, so she goes to the spiderling's father to find out. Unfortunately, unknown to her, it's his nesting season, and he is not happy to be woken up and panicking over his daughter's location in the 30 seconds it takes before he collapses again

She had checked all the usual spots, but Herrah couldn't seems to find her daughter anywhere. She had even asked the Root, and the response she got was "I understand your worry, but offer Hornet some freedom, she is grown now."

She was left no choice but to go to the Wyrm for answers, not that she was happy about it, she also wan't happy that he didn't answer when she'd knocked on the door of his new home, in a secluded part of the surface city, and received no answer. Luckily, she had been told by Hornet where the spare key was hidden, so she took it and let herself in, she was surprised to find all the lights off, maybe no one had been home. No like she would know for sure unless she searched for life in the house, and she did, eventually making her way to the Wyrm's bedroom. The door was cracked open only the slightest bit, she could hear soft breathing inside, so once again she disregarded the privacy of others and entered the room.

It was an absolute mess. Clothing was strewn about the floor and bed, torn open pillows and moss littered almost every inch of the room, multiple heavy blankets were found in an odd shape on the bed, and in the center of it all was the Wyrm. Herrah could admit that she could barely see him under all the mess, she only knew it was him because of his glow. He was asleep, it seemed, oblivious to the world. She moved over to the bed and shook him, but he didn't rouse. Odd, he's normally a light sleeper, she tried again, shaking harder, and still nothing.

She had no patience for this.

She shouted in his ear, "WAKE UP!"

That did something, he jolted awake, jumping out of... whatever he'd created around himself, and looked about franticly before spotting Herrah.

He was not happy.

" _ **What**_." It was a statement, not a question, he didn't want an answer, he wanted the Queen of Deepnest to turn around and leave.

"Where's Hornet?" she didn't care about what he wanted

"I don't know. I've spent the past week nesting." He answered

"Well, you can continue your beauty sleep **after** you help me find **my** daughter." 

He hissed at her.

She rolled her eyes, if he would not help willingly then she would just pick him up out of that bed and force him to help. She went to do exactly that. She couldn't, he swiped at her with his claws. As hard as her chitin was, the claws of a wyrm were nothing to trifle with. It was obvious now that he wasn't in his usual state of mind, and that trying to get any closer would be a very bad idea. If she couldn't get near, she'd just interrogate him till he gave her an answer.

"Where's Hornet?"

" _I don't **fucking** know." _He hissed

"Where--"

"I. Don't. Know." he repeated, "Why isn't she with you, huh? Why don't **you** know where she is?"

Oh no, he was not going to do that. "Now listen here you--" she didn't get to finish. 

The overwhelming exhaustion caused by his nesting season took over, clouding his angered and panicked mind. He collapsed down into his makeshift nest, drifting back into that deep sleep.

"Hey!" Herrah shouted, "Wake up! You haven't answered me yet!"

"Mom?" a voice came behind her, " _What_ are you doing?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha!
> 
> Also, thank Murderbirb for helping me with this idea, Ao3 won't let me mark him as a co-creator :'(
> 
> Note from Murderbirb: Well guess who is the co-creator now?


	4. Co-creator update

Hello! This is a message from the co-creator, Murderbirb. This message is just a disclaimer about update inactivity. There will most likely not be a lot of activity for this fic for a while. FireKitty isn’t gonna be able to update much for a bit. I’m much more of an ideas guy, while FireKitty is the writer, so don’t expect me to update this fic with new chapters. I’m still focusing on getting my fics down on paper. 

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.


	5. The bet (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Pk have hips? Does he? Grimm makes a bet with the other gods (excluding WL because she knows), and now the 3 other gods are attempting to find out! (3 b/c Unn is still sleeping)

“There’s no way.” Radiance said, this is ridiculous, why was she debating with her brother and the new shade lord over the body type of her greatest enemy?

”He totally has hips.” Grimm responded, “All of his children have them!”

The Shade Lord spoke, though it came out as static.

”You’re right friend, but that’s because you’re still young.” Grimm said, “But my point stands.”   
  


“How do you know it wasn’t something inherited from the mothers?” Radiance asked

”I’ve never spoken to Herra, but from what I do know, her lower half is more spider like than anything, and have you seen the White Lady?” He asked, he made a point.

”I refuse to believe that he has hips.” She said, “I refuse to think anything you say about him is true.”   
  


The Shade Lord returned to their usual form, that of the little ghost, and left, they wouldn’t stay to listen to whatever was about to be said about their father. This was an awkward enough conversation to have overheard anyways.

”Fine.” Grimm stated, “How about a bet then?”

”oh?”   
  


“Yes! I bet you 500 geo that Wyrm has hips! In fact, I bet another 300 geo that he’s a muscular hour glass type!” Grimm said 

“Really?” How petty of her brother to bring his actual figure into this, “I’ll accept the bet of 500, not the other though. That one is just petty.”

”Fine, 500 geo on weather or not Wyrm has hips!” He held out his hand.

Radiance shook it, the bet was on.   
  


————————————————-————

“ _What_?” Wyrm asked. Just, what? What an absurd request he will not— “I am _not_ removing my robes _.”  
  
_

 _“_ Oh come on _!”_ Grimm exclaimed, “Just do it! I know you’re wearing something under them, so what’s the issue with removing an overcoat?”   
  


“Okay. What the HELL is going on?” He asked, annoyed

”What do you mean?”

”You have never been so insistent on thing like this. Normally it goes, you make a strange request, I say no, you drop the subject!” He said, “But this time, I’ve been saying no for the last 15 minuets, and you’ve yet to accept that.”   
  


“I’m clueless as to what you mean, my friend!”   
  


Wyrm sighed, Grimm wasn’t letting this go, and he was not taking his robes off. The only solution was to get up and leave.   
  


—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

“Wyrm.” Radiance went towards him, “I have a favor to ask.”

”oh gods not you.” He muttered under his breath, “What do you want?”

”My brother has bet me 500 geo that you have hips. I’m saying you don’t.” She explained, she noticed the way his face twisted into disgust, “I hate this as much as you do.”   
  


“Then why did you agree to it?”

”Well I wasn’t going to just let him win, and he wasn’t letting the subject go. I figured agreeing to his bet and just asking you would be the best way to end this silly debate.”

”Well,” he said, “I give you credit for at least being decent about this. But I’m not yelling ether of you shit.”   
  


“Excuse me?”   
  


“Yes.” He said, “If the both you you think my body type is so important, then the both of you can suffer not knowing.” He may be the god of mind and soul, but he can be just as petty as them.

”You’ve got to be kidding.” She huffed

”I’m not, and goodbye.” He got up from his seat and left, he just wanted to have a quiet day.

—————————————————————

Grimm and his sister decided to meet later that day, after both their attempts at discovering the truth had failed.

”Okay, so my plan didn’t work.” Grimm said

”And what was your plan? I spoke to the Wyrm. He told me that ‘At lease I was being decent’.” She responded 

“What? I just asked him to remove his robe!” Grimm said 

“That explains it.”

  
“And what was yours, dear sister?” He was mocking her.

”For your information, I just asked him.” She said

”Really? You just asked? You do realize he’s self-conscious right?” Grimm asked

”No. But I do suppose that makes sense considering his paranoia.” She said

Grimm gave a satisfied grin, and then it clicked. “I have a plan~” 

“hm, Do tell.” Radiance wasn’t amused in the slightest.

”We just have to get him drunk!” Grimm said, he noticed his sister face, “He has very little regard for his anxieties when drunk, and will do about anything.”   
  


Radiances face didn’t change, it was a good plan, but it would anger the Wyrm. She’s experienced his wrath before, she doesn’t want to get killed and nearly forgotten again. Plus, the ethics of this plan were simply non-existent, she knew about what the queen of deepnest had done. She did not wish to be that level of deceptive.   
  


“No.” She said, “That’s a horrid plan.”

”Do you have a better one?” Grimm asked

“No.”   
  


“Then we’re going with my plan!” Grimm said 

she sighed.

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

“Well, this is unexpected.” Wyrm said, sarcastically as he watched the two gods approach, he’d been reading a book about constellations, and now these two are here to ruin his day. Again.

He sighed, closing his book and preparing to leave when Grimm had reached him.

”No, no! There’s no need to run my friend!” He put a hand on Wyrm’s shoulder, and considering the smaller man’s aggravation, that probably wasn’t the best idea.   
  


He shoved Grimm away from him as Radiance caught up.

” _Oh Great_!” He said, annoyed, “Now there’s two of them.” He turned around to leave, only to be stopped once again.

”Wyrm, we wanted to apologize.” Radiance said, she wouldn’t say anymore.

He scoffed.

”She’s telling the truth, friend.” Grimm said, “We...we wanted to take you drinking, as an apology.”

”Drinking?” He wasn’t buying it.

”Yes!” Grimm was really trying to sell this, “We’ve been acting so horribly immature at your expense, we truly are sorry.”   
  


Grimm seems sincere, but he is an actor, plus, Wyrm could see how uncomfortable Radiance looked. He thought, this was a trick, he knew it was. How sad, but he’d play along, he could get some sweet revenge.

”Fine,” he said, “Tomorrow though, I wish to enjoy what’s left of my off day.” He left them there. 

“See sister?” Grimm said once Wyrm had disappeared into the distance, “That wasn’t so hard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk man, Twitter was going nuts over the possibility of PK having hips. It’s funny!


	6. The bet (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The question of hips, and sweet, sweet revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda....shippy

They were drinking. Just like Grimm had promised, they had gone drinking, and they were. Unfortunately for the Wyrm, who had hoped to use this moment to get revenge on Radiance and Grimm, the Troupe Master knew exactly what to order to getter former king drunk. Now, the Wyrm is no lightweight, but it turns out the dream goddess is. They were only a few rounds in, though Wyrm supposed that it was a strong drink.

A half cup strawberry vodka, a shot of tequila, a splash of rum, and some chocolate wine. It was tasty, and did the trick nicely if you were truly looking to get wasted.

But boy, was drunk Radiance fun! He was laughing at her bouncing around and her failed attempts at flirting with the bar maid.

He was starting to think that maybe this invitation wasn’t a trick, though that was likely the alcohol talking, and he was also taking shots of whiskey to combat the sweetness of his drink.

Grimm just sipped his red wine and watched, the troupe master didn’t much like anything else, which was rather boring, at least Wyrm now had someone to share his fun mixed drinks with. They went for another few rounds before the former king had started to feel his slight tipsiness turn to a true state of tipsy.

His face was flushed, he could feel that much, everything was so funny now. Grimm was, to put it lightly, a bit worried, yeah, his friend had been drinking a lot of drinks with high alcohol content, but they’d been out to bars before. It’s normally at least 13 rounds before Wyrm gets to this point, though he had told the bar maid to make them strong.

Grimm would admit, he did find the fact that his lover was currently flirting with him rather entertaining, even if Root was the only one who knew about him and her husband. (and they both made sure she was okay with them.)

But honestly, Wyrm physically could not be any closer to Grimm then he already was, yet he was still trying to get closer. But, in order to win the bet, he had to wait a couple more rounds, (Grimm didn’t want to lose 500 geo) but Radinace was completely wasted, which meant Grimm would need photo evidence, and he wasn’t happy about that. Mostly because it just felt incredibly dirty, and wrong, they’d been together maybe a month. They hadn’t gone far yet.

(Nether of them knew that Radiance had taken to recording videos of their night out.)

A couple more rounds in and the time was finally right.

“Hey Wyrm.” 

“Hmmm...what’s up my sexy ring master~?” He was practically laying on top of the other

“Do me a favor?”

“Anything you want~“

“Could you take off that overcoat?” Grimm asked, Wyrm looked a bit disappointed, but he did say anything.

“I thought it would be something more fun.” He whined, “But okay.” He removed it, showing off skin tight jeans, and a t-shirt that said **I got you, idiot**.

This was confusing to Grimm, “What...?”

“Well~?” He asked, “Do I have hips or not?” He wasn’t drunk.

”Wait...” the realization hit him.

”Honestly Grimm, you know it takes more than that to get me drunk.” He said, “Hey, Radiance! You can stop now.”   
  


“Oh thank the gods.” She said, “I was tired of making a fool of myself.”   
  


“Wait—!” 

“Yeah.” Wyrm said, leaning back against the table, “We tricked you.”   
  


“How?”   
  


“Well, I had a suspicion when you invited me out, and your sister confirmed that when she told me about your plan later that day. We decided to get back at you. Though, I do have to congratulate you on winning that bet~” 

“Oh and just so you know,” Radiance chimed in, “I’m recording this whole thing, I’m sending it to everyone later.” She laughed

”huh.” Grimm said, “Well, I guess I’ll have to find a way to get the both of you back. April is coming soon you know...”

Wyrm laughed at this, “Oh, I doubt that,”

Grimm made a face at him.

”Oh don’t be like that,” he said sweetly, patting Grimm’s cheek, “It was a good idea. It just didn’t work.”   
  


Grimm huffed, “I can’t believe you.”   
  


“Aw.” He said, “I’m sorry.”   
  


“you’re not forgiven. Even if it was clever.”   
  


“Well, to be fair, you started it.” He glanced at a clock, “Oh my. It’s been fun, but I do have to get home.”   
  


Turns out the alcohol was affecting him. He grabbed Grimm’s collar and pulled him forward a bit before kissing him goodbye. 

“I’ll see you later.” Wyrm said before he teleported away using soul.

”WAIT WHAT?!” Radiance yelled in surprised, “YOU—“

oh no

”AND HIM—“ 

Grimm would get him back for this.


	7. Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hornet and Hollow get into a fight, so it’s up to their father to set the both of them straight

They had been having a nice family dinner, it started out nice, with them all talking and laughing together. Of course, with two teenage, near adult, hybrid children, things were bound to get tense as wyrm instinct began to set it.   
  


It started with silly teasing and friendly jabs, but then turned to full on insults. It wasn’t long till the two royal siblings were bearing their weapons at each other.   
  


The youngest wasn’t terrified, but certainly frightened by this event, and the parents quickly noticed this. So far, Wyrm and Root hadn’t done much other than tell the two eldest to calm down, figuring it wasn’t that serious, and Wyrm realized they were wrong soon after.

”Love,” Wyrm leaded over and whispered to his wife, “Would you mind taking Ghost to your gardens? I’m certain they’d rather be there than here.”

She nodded, whispering, “of course.” Then very quickly got up and did as requested, in all honesty, she didn’t want to be in the room ether.

The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees, but only once Root and Ghost had left it. Hollow and Hornet shivered, snapping them out of their aggression, they looked to their father an saw the ice cold, and sharp look he wore.   
  


“Are the both of you quite done?” His breath became visible as he spoke, he was curious as to what caused such anger in them. “You are not wyrms in the wastelands. There is absolutely no need for such aggression.”   
  


Hornet narrowed her eyes at him, “Was that supposed to be an insult?”   
  


A mistake, “Why would I ever do that?” a rhetorical question, the answer was that he wouldn’t. Not intentionally.   
  


She bristled, but her father cut her off before she could say anything.  
  


”Do not get snappy with me, young lady.” he said sharply, “I am not the one trying to attack their sibling.” 

Both Hollow and Hornet became embarrassed by this, lowering their weapons. Hollow dipped their head in the best apology they could manage and sat down.   
  


“Don’t think you’re getting out of this discussion,” Wyrm said, “You both need to learn to control yourselves, there will be no more incidents like this one. Do you understand?” 

They both nodded, with Hornet muttering, “yes father, we’re sorry.”   
  


The temperature went back to normal, “I’m not the one you need to apologize too.” He motioned to the empty seats, yes, he had asked they left, but knew that it would be safer for them to do so.   
  


.........

‘I don’t like that this keeps happening.’ Hollow sighed, ‘How do we make it stop?’

”Wyrm children usually preform certain rights and rituals to learn to control their instincts and power.” He was clam, this wasn’t an unusual occurrence among young wyrms. “However, they are extremely difficult, unforgiving, and downright cruel. I will not ask you to preform them unless there is no other choice.”   
  


His best bet here was to inform, he didn’t mean to sound as cold and indifferent as he did, but he didn’t know how to add caring warmth to such information. There was no warmth in such knowledge.

“Discipline and meditation are probably better options.” He tried to make his voice gentler, but that was hard when it was a voice made from thousands of voices whispering at once. Making it sound like nothing more than wind, with the imprints of words.   
  


‘Can we start learning tonight?’ Hollow signed 

“No, not tonight.” He let himself relax some, “It’s late, and we have to make a trip to the gardens.” He saw the looks his children wore, “I promise you that I am not angry, and I’m certain that nether Ghost nor Root are ether. Just worried.”   
  


_________________________________  
  


Unfortunately it wasn’t the last time that had happened, and by (quite literally) the next afternoon they were at each other groats again.   
  


Meditation and Discipline training started that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor everyone 
> 
> Pk is so tired


	8. Meditation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pk is trying to meditate
> 
> Hornet gets into a fight while at the Hive visiting childhood friends
> 
> Hollow is going through their first ever mating season and is panicking, and also refusing to talk to the one person who knows what that’s like and can help, because they are afraid of embarrassing themselves. 
> 
> It’s just a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please please please pleaseeeee read chapter notes and summaries! 
> 
> That’s were you’ll find my weird ramblings and sometimes Murderbirb might ramble some too. 
> 
> Actual Notes: It’s hard trying to take care of two growing Wyrm Hybrids. Luckily it’ll be some time before Ghost starts going through that

The Former king sat in the center of a very open and dimly lit room, legs crossed and all four hands resting on his legs. His tail was coiled loosely around the outside of his legs, he sat in silence, focused on breathing and remaining calm.

_________________________________  
  


Horent was at the Hive, visiting an old friend, they were making friendly jabs at each other, telling stories, and the topic of a particular person came up. The conversation got heated from there, escalating to insults and yelling.   
  


It didn’t take long for the argument to turn into a full blow fight, with the two having to be pulled off each other and sent to different rooms.   
  


A letter was quickly written and sent to the Wyrm about his daughter’s behavior.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
  


Hollow had decided to hide away in their room, silently panicking, they didn’t know it yet, but they had started their first ever mating season. This confused and frightened them, they had never felt romantic or sexual attraction to someone before, and now they were being overwhelmed by sudden urges. This on top of the sensory overload they had been experiencing the past few days had left them confined to their room.   
  


~~(They could leave the room anytime they wanted, but chose not to.)~~   
  


Hollow would not tell their father, they felt like he had enough on his plate with their sister constantly getting in fights, and Ghost’s mischievous and curious nature constantly getting them into trouble. No, Hollow chose to try and deal with it by themself, but realized after the second day that they had no idea how to cope during this time, they went to their friend and teacher Monomon first. Surely she, with her large expanse of knowledge and her endless archives, would know what to do.   
  


“Unfortunately, I can’t help you.” Monomon told them, “I’ve only met one full blooded Wyrm in my life, and you and your siblings are the only Wyrm hybrids I’ve ever met.”   
  


They made a whining noise, their face asking if she was certain.

”I’m sorry, I want to help, you seem so miserable.” She said, sympathetically, “Your father never let me study him, and Wyrms are rare creatures. It would be best to simply ask the one person who would know.”

Hollow nodded, leaving the archives. They would not ask their father for help. They wouldn’t. Maybe someone else would know what to do.

_________________________________  
  


This were not going well at the Hive, Hornet was irritable, but luckily another fight hadn’t happened yet. She would be sent home after snapping at the Hive Knight.   
  


She supposed she was lucky when she got home and found the mail box empty, assuming the letter hadn’t reached the house yet.   
  


She was wrong.   
  


Wyrm was seated in the dining room now, and opened letter on the table.   
  


“Sit.” He commanded, they were going to have a long talk about this.

He hoped he would not have to ask his children to preform Wyrm rights, but this was getting out of hand.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
  


Things were not going well for Hollow, they had asked Quarrel, and Lurien, and Herrah, and Root, and so many others what to do. None of them knew.   
  


Poor Hollow was forced to return home, as the sun was setting and their father hadn’t know they’d left. It took them over an hour and a half to walk home, they could’ve taken the Stagway, but they had thought of that too late to truly act on it.   
  


They opened the front door and walked through the entrance hallways, which was only a few feet long, and looked over to where they heard voices coming from.   
  


They listened and learned that Hornet had gotten into her third fight this week, this month had not been easy.   
  


“To your room **_Now_**.” Wyrm said in a stern voice, leaving no room for argument, “You are grounded until further notice.”

Hornet stood up, knocking over her chair, and storming off to her room.   
  


Wyrm sunk down in his chair, his tongue flickered out from his mouth, searching for the scent of whoever walked in the door during his talk with Hornet. He moved his head away from his hands and looked up a bit. It was Hollow’s scent, with the mix chemical changes that told him exactly what was up. 

His face twisted into one of distress for a brief moment, then he took a breath to try and maintain a calm facade. He was screaming on the inside. His mind asking the simple question, _Oh Gods Why_?

“Hollow sit down.” He said, keeping his voice even and gentle

They did as told, they really didn’t have much of a choice. They did, but they wouldn’t disobey their father.

”Let me tell you exactly how to cope during the mating season.” Wyrm spend the next few hours telling Hollow exactly what they needed to do to not drive themself insane during the next 8 weeks. ~~(For that’s how long this lasted)~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pk is just screaming internally
> 
> Updates are gonna get a little inconsistent, (what am I saying they already are)  
> I’m gonna try and work on my two other Fics, “Into the Wastes” and “The Loop” some more!


	9. Bringing someone home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hornet brings home a girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY! So, timeline in this fic is all over the place! I’m sure you’ve realized that! I’ll make a chapter detailing that later! But for now just enjoy the fic!

NOTE: This takes place about a year and a half after the siblings begin training to control their instincts! I’ll move this chapter over once I have the timeline worked out!

onto the fic!

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
  


Wyrm sat in the living room with Grimm, talking about some new book having to do with astronomy. Hollow had moved out, but still lived nearby, being too anxious to go too far away while they were still learning to control the wyrm side of their brain, and Ghost was exploring with Quarrel.   
  


He looked up when he heard the door creak open, his tongue flicking through the air on reflex to catch the scent of the person who came in.   
  


It was Hornet and......someone he didn’t know. The scent told him that this stranger was likely a girl.   
  


“Father, I hope you didn’t forget that I’m staying with you this week.” She said, walking to the living room.   
  


There was a Mantid standing slightly behind and too the side of her. The mantid girl seemed nervous, which is natural when at the home of a friend who’s parents you’ve never met.

”I brought....” she thought of how to phrase it.

Wyrm knew his daughter was Lesbian, he’d just been waiting for her to come out. Which she hadn’t yet. He could tell that this mantis had the mark of a mate, it was in her scent.   
  


“My uh.....” Hornet thought

”Girlfriend?” He asked, he had said it before his brain could process the word

”Uh...” she was definitely surprised, “Yes.” She said, putting in false confidence. “My girlfriend.”

  
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I had been waiting for you to come out, the word slipped before I could catch it.” He turned to the Mantis, “Hello, I’m Wyrm. What’s your name?”

”Ah, It’s Amelia, sir.” The mantis, Amelia, said. “It’s a pleasure to met you. And thank you, my parents weren’t near as accepting of this.”   
  


“Ah, I’m sorry about that.” He said, “Please know that I am perfectly fine with you dating my daughter. It would be wrong of me not to accept her.”   
  


He invited them to sit and they talked, Amelia even got to have dinner with them.   
  


The two girls started up the stairs when Wyrm shouted after them, “Try to keep it down tonight okay?”   
  
Amelia had laughed and said something and him being very relaxed, and Hornet threw a pillow down the stairs.She stuck her tongue out and him, and he did the same thing back. It was nice to be close with his children again.  
  


Though he would never stop finding it fun by how they all always forgot that he was a Pansexual, Polyamorous god.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pk don’t care as long as they keep it down


	10. Call Out Post

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calling out everyone who dares ignore the fact that Herrah Raped PK! People who dare poke fun at PK for “fucking Herrah” when he didn’t want to, when he was coerced into doing so. To the people who DARE try and pass it off as consensual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the Summary and don’t even try to defend Herrah in this. Don’t try to make her out to be a victim or say “Well PK was a asshole too!” 
> 
> We have in game proof that Herrah knew what she was doing. Which is more proof than we have on PK. And don’t you dare say “But they Abyss!” Because we have 0 proof that he was aware of how many vessels were down there, or that he met any of them. We have 0 proof that he was the neglectful and mean father people think he was. 
> 
> But we have proof that Herrah is an asshole.

CALL OUT POST. CALL OUT POST. CALL OUT POST.   
  


••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
  


Murderbird take it away!   
~ **Fire**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

*Hatches out of my winter break cocoon*

Hello everyone. I am co-creator, Murderbirb. Me and FireKitty have assembled you all here so that we can shine light on a subject that is not only ignored, but actively joked about. We are here to talk about....Herrah. More specifically, we are going to talk about Herrah raping the Pale King. Now, some of you may be questioning, “Wait, what the hell? When did that happen?!?” For some of the readers, I can understand. It is not a story that the Herrah stans would tell you. But Herrah is most definitely not the “Wholesome perfect mom” that the fans would tell you that she is. Though I personally believe that she most definitely cared a lot for Hornet, that is indisputable based on her dream nail dialogue, she most definitely is not the perfect person that you might’ve thought she was.

Now, let’s talk about the rape part. Based on what you might’ve seen before, you would probably think that Herrah and the King mating was just as the memes made it out to be, the joke of “Haha the Wyrm is horny idiot, he cheated on his wife because he wanted to bang a spider.” But, based on what we know in the lore, this is about as likely for being true as the chance of Hornet actually being void. Not only does it seem that the King mating was not something that he wanted in the first place, it also seems that he was against it. Now, I will admit, there is nothing in the game that outrite STATES that PK didn’t want to mate with Herrah, but it doesn’t take a genius to deduce that he wouldn’t want to mate with her. We know for a fact that PK and The White Lady were VERY in love. Not only does WL state how dear the King is to her, but the mere existence of the kingsoul is proof in itself. Making an item that literally is meant to represent their bond with each other makes it hard to say that PK doesn’t care about his wife and that he would gladly cheat on her.

Now, to talk about one other thing about the rape. There are likely some others out there with the question of, “wait, so we know that PK likely didn’t want to mate in the first place, but he agreed, so how is it rape?” First of all, Herrah still might’ve just straight up raped the King by forcefully having sex with him, but I’m giving Herrah the benefit of the doubt by saying that PK likely, albeit reluctantly, accepted to have a child with her. This doesn’t let Herrah off the hook, though, as this counts as reluctant consent, which still counts as rape. Any type of forcing someone into sex, even if they say yes, counts as rape.

Now, I’ve done my little rant about Herrah, but I won’t let myself completely off the hook. I obviously have a bit of a bias, since PK is my favorite character and I get very defensive when anyone hurts him. Also, as you may have known, multiple of the points can only be really held up with certain headcanons. I will admit that, but the way that Herrah is often shown is made up of ONLY headcanons. All we truly know that is positive about Herrah is that she loved Hornet. This is something that I refuse to take away, as not only is it stated in canon that Herrah loves Hornet, but because saying “Herrah is pure evil and cares for no one but herself” would be not only untrue, but would also make me just as bad as the people who say the same about PK. My whole point is just that Herrah is not as perfect as the stans say she is. When writing a story, we can’t have important characters be black and white, just good and evil. If we do, no one would ever have a reason to think about morals or if they are doing the right thing. Imagine if the characters of Hollow Knight were as black and white as the fan base likes to say they are. If it was like that, then PK would be a stupid, horny, child murderer, instead of the emotionally broken king who regrets what he did to save his people. White lady would be a perfect mom who didn’t want her children to die, instead of the distant mom who constantly refers to you as an “it”. Grimm would be the totally wholesome dad who adopts any kid he sees, instead of the charming Dracula man who runs a fucking slave cult. And finally, Herrah would be nothing more than the badass mom who has nothing bad about her, instead of how she truly would be. What I’m trying to say is that if we take these morally grey characters and only assign them to good and bad roles, than the story of Hollow Knight would be far less interesting. I just want to see people flesh out characters like Herrah more. I want to see a Herrah that, despite how manipulative she can be, ends up loving her child more than anything else, instead of practically being born with the skills of how to be a mom. I want to see her cause problems when raising Hornet due to her negative traits, instead of having next to no negative traits in the first place. I want her to have emotional scenes where she accidentally hurts Hornet because of what she does, and with her regretting how she acted, instead of her being able to perfectly control her emotions. I want a Herrah that makes me want to like her, despite what she’s done and how she acts. It’s why I like The Pale King. Sadly, due to how people portray her, Herrah has become a character that I resent due to the praise that she is constantly given despite what she’s done. I’m not gonna point fingers, but I saw a person a while ago who wrote Herrah as a FAR FAR worse person, yet Herrah is given only praised and is never ridiculed for what she did. I don’t ask for you people to write her as pure evil. I just want people to acknowledge her misdeeds and flaws.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
  


Fire here, Let me say this now, I agree with Murderbirb. Hollow Knight is full of morally Grey character with no real right or wrong. It would be a mistake to say Herrah was heartless.   
  


Just like it’s a mistake to say PK was heartless.

But Herrah did still rape someone. (The act is specifically called “Dalliance” in game, meaning having sex in exchange for a service) Let’s be honest here, (in the USA at least) Dalliance is illegal, and counted under rape as a form of coercion. (Of course this is the legal definition) 

What she did is constantly ignored, maybe not purposefully, but it is ignored. Nether of us are okay with that, we think it’s not okay how this act is used as a way to hate on PK. (He was the victim of rape in this situation)

(And it reminds me of how “mommy issues” and “daddy issues” are terms used to make fun of the victim of these problem. “Oh? Your parents traumatized and hurt you emotionally and maybe even physically during a time when you were vulnerable and relied on them for support? Loser.”) 

(Not okay) 

It’s always left a sour taste in my mouth, the fact that people seem to frame Herrah as a victim in this situation, when she was the attacker/aggressor here. Or just ignore the issue entirely.   
  


It makes me sad that something so horrible is being memed to a point where people don’t even question it, and just accept the “Haha stupid horny Wyrm” joke.   
  


and maybe some people in the fandom just can’t understand the moral grey that exists in game, maybe due to the belief that everything is ether right or wrong, or something else. Or maybe they’re too young to understand.   
  


I just wanted to say that this is not something to be ignored and swept under the rug like it was nothing. (It maybe people just didn’t notice, didn’t think too much about it when it was mentioned.) 

(that’s just as bad in my opinion.)

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
  


anywho. Regular updates will resume shortly! The next chapter will be fun. Don’t ignore rape! Have a good day my lovelies!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes From Murderbirb: Do you wanna see how I write Herrah being a bad person? Then check out my fic called “Meeting of Wyrm and Beast”.


	11. Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some updates, sorry

Hey guys, Fire here.   
  


just wanted to update you guys on some things. I’m starting a new fic (Baby Wyrm shenanigans), and I’ll be orphaning “Into the Wastes” if anyone wants to pick it up. I’ll be happy to explain some of the plot points I had planned out, or whoever grabs it could change some existing stuff.

I ended up catching the Stomach Flu, ow. So regular chapter updates will be a wonky for a little.   
  


Also, school has started back! But that never really interferes with my writing!

Anyways, have a lovely day!


	12. Imprisonment Arc (ONE)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place about 6 years before the first chapter, I wanted to do a story arc so.....Story arc!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor PK

Ghost had recently been formally coronated and was crowned the Ruler of Hallownest, and the first order of business was figuring out what to do with their father. Of course they'd hold a trial, they kind of had to, even if they wanted to just execute him and be done with it, that would upset mother, and Hollow, so, a trail was the only other option. They needed to prove that execution was the only viable punishment for what he'd done, Hollow requested that the trial be private, no use in getting the whole kingdom involved in this when they didn't even know the former king was alive. 

The trial was in three days, they had a case built against the Wyrm, and it wasn't hard to build ether, they were confident, but then the trial day came around, and they were confused beyond what they thought was possible. The old king wasn't even trying to defend himself, he admitted to everything, and while it made things easier, it was just....odd. He wouldn't face them, he looked up once or twice, but he wouldn't face them, but when he finally did, on that last question, Ghost could see it. The Wyrm was tired, emotionally broken, and ready for the death scentince he'd surely receive, and this infuriated Ghost. He wasn't going to get out of paying for what he'd done.

The Wyrm received his punishment, he would be imprisoned until he was forgotten, he would live with the knowledge of what he did, and suffer from the remorse. Truthfully, Ghost hadn't meant to be so cruel, but anger had gotten the best of them, they sighed internally. How would they manage to be a good ruler when they gave into impulse so easily?

Wyrm was quickly locked up in the palace dungeon, needless to say, no one was happy about the decision. 

Hornet had wanted him dead, much like Ghost, Hollow and Root were happy he was alive, but didn't like that visiting him was forbidden. 

It wasn't Ghost's job to make sure they were happy with it, Ghost's job was to keep them safe. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had only been a week, one week.

Deepnest and the Mantis Tribe were at odds, with the old king gone, the peace treaty he'd helped them work out was void, and so was the kingdoms' treaties with Hallownest. Ghost knew that if things were already as tense as they were, than the fragile peace they had wasn't going to last long. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One Month.

They'd spent the past month trying to work things out, Deepnest and the Mantis Tribe had new trade deals with Hallownest, but that's as far as Ghost had gotten to trying to fix the situation, it didn't help. The two nations had declared war, and were expecting Hallownest to chose a side. Technically, it wasn't Ghost's problem, but in actuality, with the Mantis Tribe so close to the Pilgrim's Way (the path to the City or Tears), and Deepnest so close to the Palace itself, the war was sure to have dire consequences. They had to find a way to make peace between the two nations, but nothing seemed to work, and now a reincarnated Radiance was causing problems in Dirtmouth, and the Grimm Troupe was a whole other problem. It was crazy and Ghost had no idea on what to do, they needed help, and they knew who to ask but......only the gods know if he'd even talk to them. 

Ghost left their new office, went down the halls and floors, down to the doors to the dungeon. They motioned for the guards to open the door and let them through, and walked down further and further until they got to a certain someone's cell. There was a glowing white light coming from it, they looked at him, knocking on the cell wall. He looked over at them, the quiet had never felt so heavy before. They sucked in a breath.

" _Look._ " they signed, " _I wouldn't be here if I had a_ _choice. So just listen._ "

He didn't say anything.

They continued, " _So...Deepnest and The Mantis Tribe are going to war."_

He looked surprised, those two nations had threatened war all the time, but an actual decree?

" _Radiance is causing problems in Dirtmouth, The Grimm Troupe is having issues, and The Hive refuses to sent supplies to Hallownest until everything is worked out."_

He blinked, "That sounds...like a difficult situation."

Ghost sighed in frustration, " _I wouldn't be here if I didn't need help. I've...never had to do diplomatic stuff before, and mom wasn't any help."_

"She did spend a lot of time avoiding the political part of being royalty." He said, fondly, somehow, "I understand you need help, but what am I to do? I have no idea what's been going on in the world recently."

Ghost had to think about this one, really think, " _I can...I can fill you in on what happened to cause this."_

The next few hours was spent explaining things, and the former king seemed to be thinking a lot about what was said. 

"I think..." he started, "I have a solution, but it's going to take time."

" _I'm up for anything at this point."_

He gave a hopeful hum, "Okay. So, what you need to do is get the authority of Deepnest and the Mantis tribe to have a meeting, trick them if you must. They like honey tea, so have that, don't worry about getting any from the Hive, I kept secret a stash of it in the back of the Library. As I was saying have them sit down and...."

It went on like this for the rest of the day, Ghost explaining some problem and Wyrm offering a solution, Ghost wasn't confident it would work, but it was something. Wyrm spoke at the end of their time together.

"Oh...I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Hollow has been sneaking down to see me." He said, he saw the look on Ghost's face, "Now, please don't be too angry with them, I know that getting upset and fighting with each other is the last thing the both of you need right now." He gave Ghost a look of sympathy, "And, if it's any comfort, I had asked them to stop. I you forbade anyone from seeing me I know it was for a reason."

Ghost nodded and turned away, it was comforting, but only slightly.

"And I hope that I've been of some use." 

That was the last thing Ghost heard as they left the dungeons, they didn't trust their father, in the slightest, but they were willing to try his solutions. 

They didn't hear the whispered apology.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Today was like another, Hollow was going to sneak to the dungeons to see their father, and they had brought dried TickTick, they knew that what was served in the dungeon wasn't really edible anymore. It was easy to get into the dungeon, it was easy to navigate down to their Father's cell, it was easy to slip past guards. They'd been doing this for a few days now.

It wasn't easy to see their father chained to the walls of that dusty place, or to know that his memory wasn't fully there, being suddenly brought back to life after spending so long trapped in the Dream world being consumed by void really did a number on a person. 

They went to his cell and tapped on the bars to get his attention, waving when he looked at them. He looked confused, he wasn't allowed to have visitors, every time Hollow showed up they got that same look. 

" _Father."_ They signed, " _It's me again."_


	13. Imprisonment Arc (TWO)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't...I don't really know how to do summaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOHHH Boy. I started a big project with this arc, I'm going to be dialing it back a big to make the arc easier to plan out and write, Hope you guys don't mind!

" _Father?"_ Hollow signed, " _It's me again."_

The Wyrm looked over at Hollow, confused, but the recognition was clear, they weren't sure if it came from seeing them at the trial (along with the days of secret visits), or if he truly remembered them. He leaned forward the best he could, the weight of the pure iron chains holding him back, and shifted under the weight to get a better visual on who was in front of the cell door. He would've waved if he could move his hands, it's fine tough. Hollow understood.

" _I brought some dried TickTick, I know it's not a good as fresh kill, but I'm sure it's better than what you get down here."_ They signed, most of these conversations were one-sided, but that was okay, " _How are your wrists? Those rusty chains have to be cutting into them by now."_

They knew what they said was true, they could see his wrists turning slightly pink from the awkward angle he was forced to sit at in order to see out the door. The bottom of his sharp almond shaped eyes bend upwards, so surely he was glad for the concern over his well being, though his face was hard read. They Pressed themself against the bars of the cell door and set the dried TickTick as close as they could to him, and he did use his lower set of arms to grab it, which weren't chained as tightly. 

" _Has anyone come to see you?"_ Hollow Signed.

He shook his head, which was expected, but It did make Hollow sad to know that no one had even tried. It would've been easier if other's snuck down, the guilt wouldn't weigh as heavy.

There was a click on the dungeon entrance, and Hollow ran to hide. They saw Ghost coming over to their father, and surprisingly, asked for help. It seemed to help with the memory problems, but them again, the gossip amount the guards probably helped to. 

They were very upset when Wyrm told Ghost about the fact they had been sneaking down here to talk to him, did he not enjoy their time together? 

They went back over to the cell when Ghost left, " _Why did you tell them?"_

It was the first time he'd spoken to them during their visits, in fact, Ghost was the only person he'd spoken to in a while. "I'm sorry, I know...I know that you...I know that you see me as a father."

_"Because you are my father."_ They signed, " _I don't think that, it's a fact."_

"I...I know that if you were told not to visit me, it was for a reason." he said, "I know about what I did...I don't remember much, but I know about that." the chains rattled as he tried to shift to get back towards the wall, "I hurt people, and I deserve whatever comes to me. I do think that it's best if you listen to...." He trained to find a name for them, he never caught it, he only knew that they were the authority figure here, "the small person."

Hollow looked at him, surprised, saddened, and slightly frustrated, they had been trying so hard. For nothing it seemed. They walked away, not bothering to try and sneak out, Ghost already knew, so it no longer mattered if they got caught. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ghost wanted to talk to Hollow, and unfortunately Hornet had decided to join the conversation. The two of them were reasonably angry, but that anger was unreasonably placed on their father, Hollow was the one to disobey, Ghost was being more reasonable than their sister. Which Hollow found shocking, they used used to be close.

" _I don't know why you're mad at him for my actions."_ they signed.

" _I'm not mad at him,"_ Ghost signed, " _I'm not even mad."_

"How?" Hornet exclaimed, "How can you be okay with this?" she turned to Hollow, "And what were you thinking?! He could've hurt you!"

" _Have you seen those chains?"_ Hollow asked _, "He can barely move."_

"Gods have magic remember?" She asked, critically, "He could've manipulated your mind!"

" _I doubt he even remembers how to use his magic."_

_"Wait, what?"_ Ghost chimed in, _"I know he was pretty beat up when we found him but I doubt it's that bad."_

_"None of you have even spoken to him!"_ It was Hollow's turn to be angry, " _If you did then you'd know that his memory is messed up!"_

"He's obviously pretending." Hornet walked out, she wasn't going to stay for this.

The two siblings looked at each other, staring the other down.

" _I'm not mad, I'm just sad that you didn't listen."_ Ghost signed.

_"I know."_

_"Please listen_ _from now on."_

_"Not if I don't agree."_

Ghost sighed, Hollow was as stubborn as their sister, and before they could respond, their sibling had left the room. They decided to just get back to trying to trick Deepnest and The Mantis Tribe into meeting to work out a peace.


	14. Imprisonment Arc (THREE)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hornet confronts her dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just trying to break this arc down into smaller chunks. It's....gonna be long, six parts at the least....maybe
> 
> JUST A QUICK THING! Pk knows the general gist of what he did, he doesn't remember specifics, or really anything beyond, "I am a terrible person." But this does get solved as a subplot, the main plot is basically what happens during his imprisonment and what got Ghost to release him.
> 
> Hint: You probably already know.

Hornet stormed down to the dungeons, how could he? How could he just show up alive after abandoning his people and then manipulate her sibling? 

She didn't bother with the guards yelling that she couldn't go down there, just walking to her destination, determined to prove a truth that she was wrong about. She would never admit it, but she blamed him for everything, for the infection, for Herrah's practical death, for her mistreatment within the walls of both her homes (not by her parents, but by the denizens of the kingdoms), for her loneliness growing up, and for the infection's return. Though, most of those things were not things he had any control over, she still blamed him, it was easier to have someone to direct your anger towards, brought more comfort than simply admitting that a person has almost no true control over the conditions of their life. 

She stood in front of his cell, "Eyes up." her commands left no room for argument.

She saw him move under the weight of the chains, eyes narrow. _~~She hates how much she looks like him.~~_ He moved to face her, it was awkward, and painful looking, with his upper set of arms bound together in a large (and very tight) iron cylinder connected to heavy and rusted chains, forcing them to rest above, slightly behind, and far to the right of his head, the lower set being pulled to a point of strain to his side. Even his legs and wings were bound, there was no chance of escape, and this brought her comfort. 

"How **dare** you manipulate Hollow into feeling bad for you?" she spat.

He looked so, incredibly confused.

"You think I don't know? You, the 'pale god of mind and soul', think you're so above it all, and so clever as to have tricked the child you caused so much suffering into doing your bidding?"

Who was this girl? He knew he'd done some terrible things, but her accusations had no grounds. A god? Really? He would've laughed if he didn't see the look of rage on her face.

"i....don't know what you mean." He said

"Oh drop the act already." She said, "I know you're only pretending, feigning helplessness to fool me into trusting you."

"why would I want to do that?" His words were full of hesitance, and utter bafflement.

She scoffed, "You really are dedicated to this whole bit aren't you?"

She got no response.

"You--!" She was enraged now, "You kill my mother, you kill thousands of **your own children** , lock away the one survivor, impose all these sacrifices on others--!" She was nearing a point od tears, "Abandon your kingdom, **Abandon me** \--" her eyes watered, "And you have _nothing_ to say?"

"I......I know you?" It was a genuine question, she could see that much.

And it broke her.

"You...actually don't know?"

He shook his head.

"You really don't remember?"

Another head shake

"How?" she was back to anger, she'd say it, she'd rather scream than let anyone see her cry, "How can you not? I. Am. Your. Daughter!"

"I...I'm sorry, dear." He said, "I really am."

She could feel every part of herself sinking.

"I do believe you....If that's any comfort." he started.

She turned around. 

"Uh...."

She walked away from him, from her father, she would not say it. She would not admit that it hurt to know that he had no recollection of her. She would not say that she used to, and still does love her father. She would not say that she missed the days when she was still young, when they were still close.

She won't admit that she doesn't know what she's doing. 

She won't say that she's afraid of losing her family for a second time.


	15. You’re not fine (Subplot Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lurien knew she was right. He knew that he shouldn’t be coping this way. But, he was the Watcher. It was his duty to watch over the city. He didn’t have time to grieve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little subplot that is happening at the same time as the Imprisoned arc. 
> 
> By the way, Lurien’s Butler is named Arissio. FireKitty thought of the name.

Lurien was sitting in a chair, looking out his telescope. Ever since Ghost had ended the infection and was coronated as King, he had been watching his city, as it was slowly being rebuilt. New citizens were even moving into the city, though, the recent tension with the Mantises and Deepnest caused a few problems with the pilgrimages. He felt joy that his city was returning again to it’s former glory, despite how slow it was. He ended spending most of his time sitting at his telescope, as it helped get his mind off of. . . . .other things. But, though it was enjoyable to see his city come back to life, he did end up feeling lonely. He missed Arissio. He missed his conversations with him while he watched the city. He missed his company. If it wasn’t for that damn infection, then. . . . . . . . . He pulled his eyes back to the telescope, hoping that it would help him focus on what was more important. There was a reason that he wasn’t allowing visitors, as he had duty to fulfill.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his elevator activating. He felt a feeling of annoyance upon hearing it. He had instructed his guards to not let anyone in, yet they couldn’t stop this one person. He turned his seat, waiting to see who it was. He expected it was Ghost, and that they were there to speak to him. He was surprised, though, to see Monomon standing, or more of floating, in the elevator. 

“Hello Lurien” said Monomon, “I was hoping that we cou-“ she was cut off before she could finish her sentence. 

“Why are you in here.” Lurien spoke, bitterness in his voice, “I specifically instructed my guards that no one shall enter.”

A smug look grew on Monomon’s face before she responded, “Well, it turns out your guards are not as bright as you thought.” She gave a soft giggle afterward, while Lurien scowled at her. She continued to speak shortly after, “Anyway, I came here for an important reason.” 

Lurien groaned, “Fine, what is it?” 

Monomon gave out a short sigh before she began to talk, “Lurien, you haven’t left your spire for three weeks! People are starting to get worried about you.” 

Lurien gave her another look of annoyance. “I’ve already told you before, I am fine. I am just doing my duties as the watcher of the city.” He quickly turned around and began to look through his telescope again.

Monomon looked at him, obviously ticked off by what he said. She moved closer over to him and looked out the window before speaking again. “Well, it seems more like you are hiding away in your spire, since there doesn’t seem to be much to watch. There are few enough people that you could have your guards deal with it, instead of making them guard you.” 

Lurien took in a deep breath, “Listen, I’m not going to take any chances on the safety of the people. I can’t have another Soul Master incident happen.” His thoughts ran back to that bastard bug. How dare he kill those innocent civilians! He can’t believe he didn’t catch the bastard earlier. 

“I know that isn’t why you are doing this.” Monomon’s voice was annoyed, with a tint of worry. 

Lurien seemed to hunch over slightly from Monomon’s words. “You know nothing.” he muttered out. 

Monomon gave out a light sigh, before looking back at Lurien, who refused to make eye contact with her. “Lurien, I know that it is hard for you to come to terms with their deaths, but you can’t just hide away. You’re only hurting yourself.”

Monomon’s calm voice was quickly met with Lurien’s harsh tone as he spoke. “Be quiet. Leave now.” He was gripping his telescope tightly, as if trying to squeezing it like a stress ball. 

Monomon kept her eyes on Lurien, noticing his sign of stress. “I am worried about you Lurien, everyone is. I had to deal with the pain as well, they were my friends too, but I refuse to stand by idly as you tear your self apart.” Her tone has became much stiffer, less calm. 

Lurien, however, was not afraid of her change in tone. “I am fine, Monomon. You shouldn’t worry about me.” He knew she was right. He knew that he shouldn’t be coping this way. But, he was the Watcher. It was his duty to watch over the city. He didn’t have time to grieve. He continued to clamp a hand on his telescope, while his other was used to tightly grasp the cloth of his cloak. 

As the words came out of Lurien’s mouth, Monomon felt anger rise up in her. He still acted like he was ok, despite all the signs that showed that he wasn’t. “No, Lurien, you aren’t fine! You are mourning, yet you are abandoning all the people who still care for you! By doing this, you are keeping yourself from properly healing! You are only making yourself hurt. Making everyone else hurt!” Each word hit Lurien with the power of a stag, as he slowly slumped over in his chair.

Monomon’s yells came to a stop when she noticed it. Lurien had taken his hand off of the telescope and he was staring at the ground. More importantly, though, he was shaking. She placed a tentacle on his shoulder and turned him around, revealing what she didn’t see. He was crying. He slowly looked up at her and, despite him wearing a mask, she could see the pained expression on his face. She spoke once again, “Please, Lurien, stop doing this to yourself. It hurts me so much to see you this way, and I don’t know how much longer I can bear it. You don’t have to pretend that you are ok.” as she spoke, she placed a tentacle on the side of his head, which he held with his hand before looking down again. 

“It’s ironic, isn’t it?” He spoke, his voice was quiet. “I once vowed to protect this city, and that I would keep the civilians safe. Yet, I wasn’t able to stop any of the threats. Not the Soul Master, not the infection. Nothing.” The tears ran off his mask and fell on the floor, and his voice became choked, yet he continued to talk. “Maybe, if I acted faster, if I figured it out earlier, I could’ve saved the people, but I couldn’t. Now, it’s too late. My city is in ruins. Arissio fell to the infection. The King died, and I never got to tell him how I felt. I should’ve done something, I should’ve acted, I should’ve he-“ he was cut off when he was suddenly embraced by Monomon. 

“Lurien, don’t blame yourself for that. It’s not your fault, none of it was. The Soul Master covered his tracks, and did all his crimes out of sight. It wouldn’t have been possible for you to stop him in time. There was no way you could have stopped the infection by yourself, it was too powerful for one person to be able to take on. Yet, you still did all you could to save as many people as possible. Don’t blame yourself for what was out of your control.” Tears fell down her mask as she spoke. Lurien’s body still shook, it shook from the pain, the guilt, but he hugged her back, shivering arms barely holding on to her. Any attempt he had to hold back his tears were quickly abandoned, and he cried. Monomon didn’t speak to him as the tears rolled down his mask. She knew that he needed this, he needed to let all of his pain out. He needed to deal with his sorrow, his regrets.

His grief. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lurien is a god damn emotional mess who needs therapy 
> 
> There will be another subplot chapter coming out later, and thankfully, it will be more wholesome.
> 
> And yes, this is Lurien/Monomon.


	16. ANNOUNCEMENT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an update on Into The Wastes for those who want to continue reading it

My old fic, “Into the Wastes”, got adopted!   
  


the new writer is Theoneinthecorner! 

Here’s a link to their account:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theoneinthecorner


	17. Imprisonment Arc (FOUR)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Radiance Taunts PK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun things are coming soon

The wyrm sat in his cell, chained to the wall, he went over everything that had happened to him since he came here. First that little one had found him, then he was arrested, then imprisoned, then isolated, and then there was the tall one, the tall one visited, and called him _Father_. Then the little one visited, they wanted his help, they wanted to use him, without truly hearing him out. The girl in red came once, and that din't go well. 

He thought he'd sleep to past the time, he would've been lying if he said he wasn't expecting the orange glow in the corner of his eyes as he fell into the worm of dreams. It was her. He didn't remember her well, but he did hate her. He Hates Her.

She laughed the moment she saw him, "What a hilariously ironic situation!"

He gave her a spiteful stare.

"I'm the one who was spotted to be trapped in a cage...." She looked up at the false sky of her realm, "But I'm free." She looked back down at him, "and you're the one behind bars."

He would not speak to her, she would not get the satisfaction.

"It's funny to me." She continued, "You sit here, rotting in a cell, when your child, who wants you dead, I might add, sits on the throne that used to be yours. They sit there, and they use you to make themself look like a better king. Using you, but unwilling to hear you out." She gave him the smuggest look, "It's funny, how you sacrificed so much to see me dead, and then they brought me back just to spite you!" Her laughter echoed the realm, "I mean, you have foresight. You really should've known you'd fail." She walked closer to him, "You should've known I'd win. You're great kingdom fell and you were helpless to stop it, you could've, though. If you had just given me what was mine, it all would've gone away." She looked down, "But you didn't, and you lost, and everyone Hates you. They all want you dead!"

He supposed she realized she wasn't going to get to him, because she gave a frustrated huff and let him go. 

He was left alone in his mind, he knew she was right, they hated him. They wanted him dead. 

And he was okay with that.

Their opinions meant nothing to him now. 

They gave up on him.


	18. A Simple Question (Subpolt Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quirrel is worried. He believes that Monomon is keeping a secret from him, but she wouldn’t do that, would she?
> 
> Would she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this part isn’t as good. I was tired when I wrote this and I was focused much more on what to do for part 3.

Quirrel was pacing back and forth in the Archives, worry painting his face. He was stuck in thought, asking himself what he should do. About half an hour ago, he had calmly greeted Lurien, who came to visit the Archives, more specifically, to visit Monomon. He knew this was normal, since before the infection, the two of them would meet up every so often. What confused and worried him, though, was the commonality. Normally, Lurien would visit every few weeks to meet and discuss their interests, sometimes over a game of chess. Occasionally, Monomon would head to Lurien’s spire instead. But, ever since Monomon had managed to convince Lurien to stop hiding in his spire, they had been meeting much more frequently, about once every few days. And this has been going on for a few weeks, so Quirrel knew this was more than just a short time thing. He knew something was up, and he intended to find out. 

Except he felt like he already knew. He thought it was obvious. The two were already good friends before, but now they were meeting up constantly and, from what Monomon told him, the two recently had an emotional talk together. They were dating, there was no other explanation, he felt. There was only one thing that kept Quirrel from 100% certainty. 

Monomon hadn’t told him yet. 

He felt that she would have told him by now if she was dating Lurien. She was his mother! He had been waiting these few weeks, waiting for her to tell him that she was dating Lurien, yet it never happened. Maybe they were just really good friends? But he doubted that it was like that. 

He had an urge to go and try to find the answer himself. Search around, learn what he wants to know without speaking to her until he knows the answer. Despite this, he knew one thing. He should probably just ask her and Lurien. Surely, there would have to be a reason to withhold this information from him, right? 

It only took a few minutes to search around the Archives and find Monomon and Lurien, who were in the middle of a chess game and were having a conversation. Quirrel didn’t take long to walk over to them, and he could easily hear their conversation clearly. 

“Listen, I know it was very hard to engineer elctrokinesis into the lumaflies, but they should at least be kept in containment instead of letting them fly around!” Lurien argued. He had his hand in his mask, holding it in such a way that it looked like he was trying to rub his eyes through the mask.

Monomon gave out a sigh before speaking, “Well, one, the lumaflies have a tendency to find ways out of their containment’s. I still need to find out how. And two, I noticed that they are more active when in an open area, so I chose to study them when out in the open. I believe it will help with my-“ Monomon suddenly stopped when she noticed Quirrel walking towards them. “Oh, hello Quirrel!” 

“Greetings, Madam Monomon.” Quirrel spoke. Monomon gave out a small sigh after hearing him. She has no idea why he tried to be so formal, especially when she was his mother. Quirrel spoke again shortly after, “I believe that I need to ask you and Lurien about something of importance.” 

Monomon, despite wearing a mask, grew a look of confusion on her face. She looked over to Lurien, who seemed less interested in knowing the question and more interested in studying the board to plan his next move. She turned back to Quirrel, “Well Quirrel, what is your question?” 

Quirrel gulped before speaking. “Well, I’ve noticed that you and Lurien have been visiting each other much more often, ever since you got him to leave his spire.” Boy, this felt awkward. “I just wanted to ask you and him, are you two, perhaps, dating?” 

While Monomon seemed to be a little surprised, Lurien had a far more extreme reaction. He turned around in his chair quickly, and Quirrel could tell that he was panicked. “Wha...what did you ask?” Lurien spoke, quiet and very surprised. 

“I, um, asked if you two were dating. I’ve been thinking that you were for a while, ever since you started meeting up much more.” Quirrel spoke, while internally cringing.

Lurien began to tense up after hearing him, and he started to wring his hands. “Um, well, no, we haven’t been dating, I’m pretty sure. We’ve simply be-“

“Yes.” Monomon said, resulting in Quirrel letting out a small huff and Lurien looking up at her in disbelief. 

“What do you mean yes? We’ve only been meeting up!” Lurien spoke up, his voice laced with shock. 

Monomon looked down at Lurien, “I thought you would notice that this would be leading up to more than meeting up.” Lurien could tell she was being smug. 

“But, still! We haven’t even gone on a proper date!” Lurien sputtered out. 

Monomon put a tentacle up to her mask, “Well, I guess you are right about that. We haven’t gone on a date yet.” Lurien gave out a sigh after hearing that, before Monomon continued, “Would you like to go on one?” 

Lurien stared up at her, wide-eyed in disbelief. She asked him on a date?!? He tried to formulate a sentence, but only managed to get out a, “Um, uh, I don’t, um.” Monomon gave out a giggle upon seeing him struggling to respond. “I suppose you need some time to think?” He nodded in response. 

“Madam Monomon.” Quirrel spoke, grabbing Monomon’s attention and she focused on him. She could easily see his look of disappointment. “Madam, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Monomon quickly felt her heart sink after hearing his words. Of course he would be worried if she didn’t tell him. She went over to Quirrel and placed a tentacle on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Quirrel. I should have told you earlier. I guess I was just worried about how you would react.” He didn’t seem to look any less disappointed, though. 

She turned to look at Lurien, who was still stuck in thought. “Lurien, I’m going to have to leave for a bit. Me and Quirrel are going to have to talk about this.” Lurien looked back at her before giving her a nod. Monomon looked back at Quirrel and lowered her tentacle onto his back, before she began to move, guiding him alongside her. She went to find a more private place to talk about what was happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you hoped that I was going to have Quirrel and Monomon talking about this. Quirrel is absolute hell to write.
> 
> I plan on making 1 more part for this subplot.
> 
> Edit: please ignore the first comment stream on this chapter. It was caused by a misunderstanding between the other author and a commenter


	19. Imprisonment Arc (FIVE)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dreamers find out that PK is alive

Herrah had come to the palace to see her daughter, and found her storming away from the dungeons looking ready to scream. She want over to her daughter.

"Hornet," She said, sympathetically, "What happened dear?"

She either didn't hear Herrah, or was ignoring her, because Hornet just kept walking. Herrah would've tried to get her attention, but she was gone before the Queen of Deepnest had registered what just happened. No. Oh no, Hornet was not going to ignore her mother. She went after her, following her to Ghosts office. 

"We should just execute him!" She shouted when she entered

" _Hornet."_ Ghost saw Herrah behind her

"We should've executed him the moment we found him alive!" Hornet said

" _Sister."_

"We should just go down there, and kill him."

" _Sister please look behind you!_ "

Hornet turned around and saw Herrah there, Herrah's confusion was a stark contrast to Hornet's shock.

"Who?" Herrah asked

"Mom--"

"Who are you talking about?" 

" _Herrah-"_ Ghost tried to sign

"No. No, no, no." She said, "Who are you talking about?"

" _Father. She's talking about father."_

She blinked, for a moment she was speechless, then that turned into an emotion she couldn't place, maybe it was betrayal. "You mean to tell me, that the Wyrm is alive?"

" _yes."_

"And you didn't tell anyone?"

" _we didn't think it mattered, he's been arrested, and he's not allowed visitors!"_ Ghost tried to defend their reasoning.

"But don't you think, that maybe, the people he knew in his life, would want to know that he's alive?"

"Well..." Hornet said, "Only physically. Being slowly consumed by void did a number on his mind, I suppose."

"What does **that** mean?" 

"He doesn't remember anyone or anything." She said

Herrah looked at Ghost, then at Hornet, and back at Ghost, she swiftly turned around and walked away, "If you think that you've made a good choice then you are mistaken." 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Herrah sat in her room, looking at nothing, and then decided. She'd write to her fellow dreamers and tell them of this recent development. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Monomon showed up at the palace the next week, Lurien behind her, the both of them had demanded to speak to Ghost.

The three of them sat in Ghost's office, and it was Monomon who spoke.

"He was our friend you know." She said, "We may have met because of the infection, but we were friends."

Ghost didn't respond.

"Don't you think that we deserved to know that our friend is alive? Even if something was wrong with him, we deserved to know." she said, "We though he was dead, we mourned him." She saw Ghost met her eyes, "And now we find out, that not only is he alive, but that you've been keeping him prisoner."

" _It's for everyone's safety."_ They tried to reason

"No," Monomon said, "It's because **you** don't want him around. This is about **you**."

" _if this was about me, then I wouldn't have gone to him for help when Deepnest and the Mantises were at war."_

"Oh, so not only did you lock him up without letting anyone know he was even alive, but you're using him."  
  


" _I'm not using him."_ Ghost rolled their eyes

"b-But you are." Lurien chimed in, "From what I heard, you only went to see him once. To ask him to help you. You didn't think about him until he was useful to you."

" _I am not using him."_

"Then release him. or...At least let him have visitors." Lurien had never demanded anything of royalty before. It felt nice to stand up to them.

" _I will not."_

"Then you've lost our respect." Monomon said

They stared each other down for a while, with Ghost eventually giving in, _"Fine."_ Monomon and Lurien looked happy, and the teacher was about to speak when Ghost continued, " _I'm not releasing him, not fully, he's going to be confined to a bedroom in the palace. But he will be allowed visitors."_

Either way, It was a win for the two dreamers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOWOOO! I'm building up to fun stuff


	20. Imprisonment Arc (SIX)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monomon and Lurien visit PK in his new containment room

Monomon had dragged both Herrah and Lurien to the palace the week after her and Lurien's argument with Ghost, she had gotten the ruler to let the old king have visitors, and she wasn't going to waste this chance. The two complained a bit, which, while normal for Herrah, was odd for Lurien, considering how he used to feel about the Wyrm, but Monomon insisted they visit and at least let him know that they are still friends, despite everything.

Monomon found the room that Wyrm was confined to, and ran up to knock on the door, getting a very funny response in return.

"I would open the door for you," Wyrm said from the other side, "But my hands are currently bound, and...uh...I'm stuck under a desk..."

She opened the door, and had to stop herself from laughing, he really was stuck, sitting in a crawl space under the desk with his tail tangled in some wires, one leg stuck under his body, his lower set of arms trapped beside him, and the upper set stretched out in front of him. She couldn't help it, she laughed. He just looked so silly. Lurien went over to stand behind Monomon, staring at the scene, and Herrah burst out laughing. 

"Do you need a hand?" Lurien asked, going over to him and reaching out to help.

"Yes, please." He said, despair obvious, "help me."

Lurien grabbed his main set of arms, and pulled him out, which worked, until the wires tightened around his tail, keeping him stuck sitting outside the crawlspace, near the front of the desk. The Watcher started towards the crawlspace to untangle the wires, but Wyrm stopped him.

"Ah, Don't worry, I'll untangle that later." He said.

"Are you not worried about someone catching you using the tunnels?" Monomon asked, having finally calmed down.

"Not really, you three are the only ones that have visited me since I was moved here." Wyrm sated, the wires were getting uncomfortable, and he turned around to remove them from his tail.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes. Oh, could you do me a favor?" He saw her nod, "Remind me of your names?"

"Right! Sorry, I was told you have memory loss. I should've told you our names when we walked in," She said, "I'm Monomon," she gestured to Lurien, "That's Lurien."

"Yes!" He looked a Lurien, smiling, "I remember playing chess with you."

"Oh, that's wonderful." Monomon said when the Watcher didn't respond, then pointed to Herrah, "And that's--"

"Herrah." he said, he was certainly uncomfortable with her being in his room, especially while he was in a vulnerable position, "I know."

He went back to untangling his tail, getting it free and standing up, he moved over to the window. Monomon walked behind him, wanting to continue the conversation.

"I want to ask how much you remember." She blurted out, "Hollow told me that you can recall scraps of your life. I want to know what those scraps are."

He turned around, blinking, he had to think. "I..." he didn't know what to say, "uh...I..."

The three were slightly worried, he didn't normally stutter, or struggle to find words. That blank stare told them that it was a lot less than what they hoped, they watched as he tried to grasp onto something. 

Herrah finally said something, "Do you remember when you told off a noble for interrupting a Dreamer meeting?"

He looked surprised, "I-- No!" He gave her a wide eyed stare, "That sounds awful! What if what they had to say was important?"

"It wasn't." Lurien deadpanned, "It never is."

He decided to just turn around and sit on the window sill, and sighed.

"Do you remember anything about the infection?"

"Just that it happened. I did some awful things to fight it, I don't recall most of the details..." he said, "I remember being...sad."

"Well, that's something." Herrah said

Monomon shook her head and spoke, "What else?"

"I remember that I got married, and I remember her face. I can't recall a name." he said, "I remember... chess games, and.... rain...." he struggled, "I-I'm sorry. Most of what I can recall is just....regrettable."

They had decided that trying to push him anymore, and, Monomon brought chess. They stared being very gentle with him after that, ~~he just wanted to be treated like a normal person, why was everyone being so weird~~ , but the game was fun. They managed to learn more, he remembered the garden Root made in the courtyard, which is why he wanted to be moved to this room specifically. He mentioned a time when he saw Monomon get zapped by an electric lumafly and had asked if she still thought that lumaflys needed to be electrified, and everyone just laughed. 

It turned out to be a nice visit, and then the three had to leave. It shocked them when he gave the goodbye he always gave in the days of their friendship, Hopping up and going over to them when they were at the door. He used give a quick hug and say how he looked forward to seeing them before offering a pat on the shoulder, and maybe it was out of habit, but that is exactly what he did. After the goodbyes were done Herrah went back to Deepnest, and Lurien and Monomon went back to the City of Tears.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wyrm sat in his room, looking out the window from his seat on the sill, wanting northing more then to be left to stare at the garden in peace, but something keep demanding attention. 

People ether hated him, acted like he didn't exist, used him, or treated him like a fragile cracked porcelain doll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please call out mistakes :')


	21. I’m not going back (Subplot Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the rediscovery of the King, Monomon becomes worried for what Lurien will do now that he knows.

Monomon was standing still, stuck in thought. Right next to her was the elevator that lead to the top of the watcher’s spire. She was sure that Lurien was up there and, most likely, in a state of turmoil. She wouldn’t be surprised, especially after their latest discovery about the King, that he was not only alive, but trapped in the dungeon of the Palace, being used by Ghost to solve diplomatic problems. But that wasn’t what Monomon felt he was most in turmoil from. 

The King was back, he was alive. The man that Lurien had loved was alive. Yet, Lurien and her had believed he was dead. They both mourned his death and Lurien moved on from him. Over the time before their discovery of the King, the two of them began spending more time together. They had recently even started dating! And, despite them still not having plans for a date, let alone even knowing how to do one, she still highly enjoyed speaking to him about arranging their date. But Monomon worried that, with the return of the King, it would harm not just her relationship with Lurien, but also cause Lurien to hurt himself. 

Though it took her a while, she finally decided it was time to speak to Lurien about it. She huffed out a breath before entering the elevator and pulling the lever above her. The elevator quickly began to rise, and before Monomon knew it, she was already at the top of the spire. She looked around the room and saw Lurien, who was staring out of a window, down onto the city. He wasn’t even using his telescope. Monomon exited the elevator and greeted him. “Hello, Lurien.” 

The room was silent, the only sounds decorating the empty air was the pittering of rain. Lurien gave out a sigh before responding to her, just as quiet as Monomon would expect him to be, “Hello, Monomon.” He continued to stare out the window, not even turning around to face her. 

Monomon sighed before speaking again, “I assume you know why I am here now.” She moved slightly toward Lurien as she clasped two of her tentacles together. 

Lurien tensed up a bit before replying to her, “I assume this is about the King?” 

Monomon nodded after hearing him. “Indeed. More specifically, I am...worried for you. I’m worried that you will try to get together with him now that we found him again.” She was wringing her tentacles, like how Lurien would do the same with his hands.

Upon hearing her, Lurien lowered his head slightly. He didn’t speak back to her as he placed a hand onto the cold glass of the window. 

She waited for a response, and when she didn’t get one, Monomon continued to speak. “I worry that you will go after him again, and that if you do that, you will only hurt yourself in the process.” She began to look away as she spoke. 

“Monomon.” 

“And I worry that it would also harm the King, due to how fragile of a mental state he is in.” 

“Monomon.” 

“And, from there, I believe that it would cause so many other problems. Ghost could suspect that you will break out the king and then th-“ 

“Monomon!” 

Monomon was quickly snapped out of her rambling to see Lurien fully facing her. “Please Monomon, I need you to listen to me.” After speaking, he raised a hand up to the hood of his cloak, before pulling it down, resulting in two antennas popping out from under the hood. Monomon was shocked, but before she could speak, he had raised a hand to his mask and took it off, revealing his face. His chitin was dark, yet the reflected light gave it a shade of green. His eyes were pure black, only illuminated by the candlelight of the room that bounced off them. Between his eyes and slightly above their level was one third eye, which Monomon had been aware of for a while. Finally, he put his hands onto his back, and Monomon heard a few clicking noises before his wings were released from his cloak. They were just as torn as the last time she saw them. Lurien then turned to look at Monomon before he spoke. “I say these words to you not as The Watcher, but as Lurien Meílath. This is very important to me and I know it’s the same for you, so I believe you should know the same. I’m not going back to him.” 

To say Monomon was shocked would be an understatement. Though she had seen Lurien’s wings before, she had never seen his face. She moved closer to him before placing a tentacle on the side of his face. She gave out a sigh before speaking. “Do you truly mean that?” She believed he did, but she needed to know for sure. Lurien raised a hand onto her tentacle and held it. “Yes. I’ve grown to deeply care for you, and I refuse to throw my feelings away for a foolish reason. After all, there is no reason for me to give all of my love to someone who is dead.” Monomon was confused by that last part. “What do you mean? You saw for yourself that the King is alive.” Lurien looked back up at her. “The King is alive. My Sire is not. I know that no matter how much we help fix his memory, he will likely never be the same, he will never be the man I fell in love with.” Monomon sighed and looked down, feeling sadness quickly hit her. He was right. There was a low chance that they could ever fully restore the King’s memory and even if they do, he will forever be a different man. Lurien seemed to notice this, and he spoke again. “That doesn’t mean I’m not willing to help. I don’t know how much I can truly help him remember who he was, but I am willing to help him recover his memory.” Monomon could see a small smile form on Lurien’s face, which resulted in her feeling a spark of joy in herself. At least she wouldn’t have to go through the effort of helping the King alone. 

Lurien looked over to his telescope before he spoke. “I’m sorry, but I think I’ll have to get back to my duty soon. I’ve been neglecting it a bit too much since we discovered the King.” He sounded a bit disappointed. Monomon was too, but she knew that he still would need to fulfill his duty as the Watcher. “I understand, Lurien.” She took her tentacle off of the side of his head. Lurien then turned to go walk over to his telescope, but before he began to walk, Monomon moved her head down to his and kissed his cheek. It wasn’t really a kiss as much as bump from her mask, yet Lurien seemed to understand what it was, as he quickly put his mask back on before she could see him blush. Monomon giggled from seeing his reaction. It was adorable to see him get so flustered from something as tiny as that. She began to move back to the elevator and once she got in, she looked back at him before speaking. “Goodbye, Lurien!” Lurien looked back around to see her and spoke out a “Goodbye” as well, before Monomon switched the lever and the elevator decended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news! I have been inspired and I plan on making a 4th part for this subplot! I promise, it will have next to no angst in it.
> 
> Also, yes, we gave Lurien a last name. I first revealed it in another fic called “Torn Wings”


	22. Imprisonment Arc (SEVEN)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PK's has been completely alone since the dreamers visited him, other than the occasional visit from Ghost, who only ever asked for diplomatic help.
> 
> The near constant solitude has taken its toll.

The old king sat on his bed, staring blankly at nothing, those three from about four months ago haven't come back, Hollow hasn't visited (Wyrm is allowed visitors now, he doesn't know why they haven't come back,), the girl in red has't come to see him, in fact, the only one who has visited is Ghost. The little monarch who only ever used him for diplomatic reasons, of course he didn't blame them for needing help, being a king is a difficult job, he'd imagine that to be the case anyways, he just wished they'd be a little nicer about it. Other than Ghost, no one came to see him, and he'd been in near complete solitude, and this caused a very bad feeling to rise in him. Dread, near constant anxiety, restlessness, all of the aspects of that feeling everyone hates to have, that indescribable, unnamed feeling. His brain's serotonin, melatonin, and dopamine receptors being killed by the stress this feeling caused, making the feeling worse, making him incapable of repairing his damaged internal clock.

He'd found himself unable to sleep for about 8 days and 15 hours, and certainly needed to rest, lest he allowed the sensory hallucinations to get worse, causing dangerous behaviors and get him thrown back in the dungeon. Though it was hard to sleep, he hadn't really been trying to fall asleep, being too caught up in this awful feeling to even attempt to breath, calm down, and try to rest. He always got like this during the Infection, and other extremely stressful moments in his life, anyone who knew him well would tell you that. After his most recent sensory event, however, he decided that this needed to stop, he needed to sit down, to rest, to calm his mind, so he sat on his bed, meditating. It had been maybe an hour, he had managed to calm himself down, and so he laid down, taking slow, steady breaths, and continued his meditation till he feel asleep.

A red mist set about his mind as he entered REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, he knew, deep down, he knew what this red mist meant, and he'd just try to get through it so he could let his mind truly recover from the extreme deprivation it experienced, to let it organize and properly process and store sensory information in order to create memories and put an end to his hallucinations (which were being caused by his brain being unable to process the information being presented to it, mixing information and creating things that weren't there). He just needed to let his brain organize this information, then REM would end, and his brain could dispose the waste and toxic material the had built up in the past 8 days an 15 hours, repair any damaged neurons and chemical receptors, then he'd enter REM again in the last 10 minutes of sleep.

But....that red mist meant a nightmare was about to start, he knew that all of the feelings and trauma he never addressed would be dragged to the surface and demand his attention as his mind begged for a way to recover from permanent damage. Even if his consciousness recovered from it, his subconscious, his neural network, never would.

The mist settled around the edges of his mind, slowly pulling at those past experiences and emotions, dragging them to the surface, creating the nightmare that would bring him to fearful tears. All the memories of neglect and abuse and the ultimate abandonment he faced at the hands of his parents and siblings. The smell and taste of blood, the years of fearing and running for his life, the rights he had to go through just to earn his name.

_Idarius, a combination of Icarus and Theseus._

He woke with a start, but this state of awareness didn't last long, as he fell asleep soon after.

_Alone and disgraced._

_Alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SLEEP SCIENCE SIMPLIFIED! Along with Trauma's effect on neural networks, the connection between sleep deprivation and sensory hallucinations, chemical receptors and effect of stress and sleep deprivation on those receptors. etcetera, etcetera..
> 
> Please take the science with a grain of salt, I tried my best but we can't always be accurate! Please do some research on your own, and feel free to fact check me if you'd like, I'd actually really enjoy making the science in this fic more and more accurate!


	23. Planning for Healing (Subplot Part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monomon and Lurien are studying to find out how they can help recover the King’s memories.

The table was an absolute mess.

Papers and journals were placed randomly, with the only thing keeping the slightest bit of order was a paper holder, which was already overflown. Lurien would have to dig though the piles to find papers of importance. He rummaged through the sheets until he found a journal that was written in a language that he couldn’t read, but he managed to make out some small bits. It seemed that it was about amnesia. He gave out a short huff before handing it over to Monomon, who was reading over the pieces of research and writing down notes. “Monomon, take this one. I believe it should help.”

Monomon looked over at him and saw him holding out the journal, which she promptly took from his hand before speaking again. “Thank you, Lurien.” She placed it into a pile of papers and journals beside her and got back to reading one of them.

Lurien sighed as he looked back the mess on the table and got back to searching, hoping to find research that he was able to understand. The one large downside about Monomon collecting knowledge from many different kingdoms is that they are all written in the kingdom’s very different languages. While it wasn’t so bad for her and Quirrel, since they both know how to translate it, others like Lurien struggle with understanding what many the pages say. After a short while, he managed to find a journal that he could read, so he placed it down, and began to write notes.

After an hour, Lurien stopped writing and slowly took his eyes off of his notes and looked up at Monomon. She was engrossed in her work and she didn’t notice that Lurien was looking up at her until he spoke to her. “Um, Monomon?” 

Monomon took her gaze off of her papers to look over at Lurien. “Yes, Lurien?” 

“Remember how we were making plans for a date, but we postponed the planning so that we could help the King?” Lurien spoke, as he began to wring his hands. 

“Yes.” Monomon responded, a pinch of confusion in her voice. 

Lurien looked down slightly as he continued to talk. “Well, it’s been a month since we started researching and I just want to know, are we going to start arranging the date only after we help the king?” 

Monomon quickly grew much more confused after hearing him. “I thought you understood that these meetups were, basically, the dates, at least, some of them. I’ve been counting them as dates.” 

Lurien was surprised by what she said. He darted his head up to look at her’s and quickly sputtered out, “What? These are nothing like dates.....are they?” 

A small giggle came out of Monomon. “Lurien, on at least 4 occasions, you visited so long that you ate dinner with me while we researched.” She lowered her head down to his. If she could show expressions, she would have such a happy yet smug face. “I think that those would count as dates, wouldn’t you agree?” 

Lurien was utterly baffled. How did he not notice that earlier?! “Oh...” His voice was deep with realization. Monomon gave out a giggle from his voice. “To be honest, as surprised as I am that you didn’t notice, it makes a bit of sense. You’ve been practically living here since we started researching. One time, you even fell asleep here.” 

“What? When? I don’t remember that.” Lurien spoke, quite surprised by what she said. 

Monomon looked not as surprised as Lurien was. “2 weeks ago, you fell asleep in the middle of research. Both me and Quirrel saw it.” 

Lurien seemed to be questioning what she said before he responded. “Wait, then how did I end up waking up in my spire?” 

Monomon spoke shortly after. “Well, I was going to just wake you up, but then when Quirrel made a joke about me carrying you back, I decided to do that instead. It took some time, but was worth it to see the look on his face as I did so!” 

Lurien was shocked. He was lucky that he was wearing his mask, since if he didn’t, Monomon would see his blush-covered face. He buried his head in his hands and he mumbled out, “oh my gods.....” Monomon had to hold herself back from a laughing fit from seeing his reaction. She always found it so adorable how he reacted to these things. Even when it was a tiny kiss on the cheek, he would get so flustered that he needed to cover his face. Monomon was sure that if he got kissed on the lips, he would faint. 

Lurien eventually pulled his face out of his hands before speaking, “Um, maybe we should get back to working on the research. We’ve spent quite a bit of time on, uh, you embarrassing me.” He was wringing his hands again. It also got another laugh out of Monomon. Though she did like talking to Lurien about these things, especially when it got him so flustered, she knew she didn’t have all day to do this. “I guess you are right about that.” She picked up a pen again and dipped it in ink before she began to write her notes. Lurien did the same, but he struggled a bit more with keeping his focus, as his eyes would often be guided back over to Monomon, and the blush on his face never went away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the explanation for why Monomon and Lurien didn’t visit the King for so long. They wanted to make sure their plan to help him was perfect, due to the King’s broken mental state. It obviously took a while.
> 
> (Little did they know, such extensive planning only ended up hurting the king more)
> 
> This may be the last subplot part I’ll make, unless I get some inspiration to make more. But for now, just assume this is.


	24. Discord Link!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We made a Discord!

Hey everyone. We just wanted to share the news that we created a discord channel for “Wait...What?” And our other works. Please read the rules when you join.

https://discord.gg/YtZSzs7v

Here is the link. Just copy and paste it into safari to join.


	25. Updates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :/

Hey Guys, Fire here, sorry for bombarding you with updates but some thing have come up that are going to effect how much I’ll be able to work on Wait What.

So to start, I’ve had two family members die from this new strand of COVID. I really do just want to remind people to be so careful. There’s a lot more at risk than just yourselves.

Uhm...I have finals at school, though I am virtual right now. (My mother is also having me play soccer, though I am a goalie and should be okay in the social distancing department)

There’s a lot of stress on my grades and I’m just trying my hardest there. 

I’m doing testing for AHDH and Visual Processing Disorders, as well as Asperger syndrome. 

But I will keep working on Wait what, it’s an outfit for me! (This plus piano and drawing) 

Anyways, I hope you guys are having a good day, we have a discord now, you can find the link on my Instagram ( @firekittylol the pfp is a traditional drawing of PK as a wyrm), feel free to join.


	26. Imprisonment Arc (EIGHT)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imprisonment arc is back :)

Rumors have been spreading through Hallownest that the old king was alive, and Ogrim, the old king's most trusted knight, and closest friend, wanted to confirm this for himself. The rumors also said that the young upstart ruler had him imprisoned in an unknown location in the palace, and that he'd been there for a while, Ogrim had wanted to tell Ghost about these rumors, and the anger they were causing within the kingdom, it would be best if Ghost made some kind of public appearance so that they could explain themselves without angering the people further. 

At this rate they were going to usurp the young ruler.

Ogrim had arrived at the palace within the hour, he was surprised to see so little security, though the little one was a capable warrior, so he supposed they didn't need it. He just walked into the still broken front gates, through the door, and right up to the royal wing. No one even tried to stop him, he really should try to convince the little one to get a guard or two, he walked past a certain hallway in the royal wing. One covered in vines and flowers, he remembered the day the Queen left, he and Wyrm had been in this hallway, he'd had to hug the old king from behind and hold him back as he screamed, **begged** , for Root to stay, to not leave him. The knight shook the memory away, he had to find Ghost's office, the walls of this wing had so many memories, but he had a mission, and he knocked on the large door to the king's office, part of him expected to hear warms voice say "one moment", before silent footsteps would make their way across the room and open that silver door. Ogrim was pulled from his musing when the door gave a high pitched creak in protest to being moved, the palace was truly in terrible shape, that would have to be fixed, Ghost stood in front of Ogrim.

"Tiny warrior!" He greeted, "You can't possibly live here with the great palace in such a bad condition!" 

The little ruler's eyes tilted upwards in a smile, they signed " _Ogrim! I'm happy you're okay!"_

_"_ Hahaha! Why wouldn't I be?" He laughed, "Actually, I came here to ask you something,"

The nodded.

"Are the rumors true? Is the dear old king alive?" The hope in his voice was obvious

" _Rumors? There are rumors?"_

"Are they true?"

" _Yes...how long have there been rumors?"_

Ogrim thought he'd be happy to hear that news, and he was, but that meant that what people said was also true. The old king had been imprisoned in the castle for an unknown period of time, in an unknown room in a palace, and hadn't had much of any contact with anyone the entire time.

"M-may I see him?"

" _sure."_ Ghost led Ogrim to the room the Wyrm was locked up in and opened the door, upon seeing Wyrm passed out on the bed (Still covered is rusty, heavy, iron chains), they signed again, " _He was awake last time I was in here."_

Obviously Ghost had no sense of time, because they hadn't been here in weeks, Ogrim didn't have a chance to ask anymore questions before Ghost left, but he already had a sense of what happened. It had happened after Root left, and after Hollow had been sealed, he always partook in this self-destructive behavior when he was grieving, or just stressed. He walked over to the near broken bed, he knew why Wyrm requested this room as his prison, its view of the old Queen's rose garden couldn't be beat. He carefully put a hand on the Wyrm, he didn't want to wake his old friend, but he did want to talk to him, unfortunately, Ogrim's "heroic odor" woke Wyrm. 

"Mm...Come on now Ogrim...at least try to bathe properly if you're going to wake me." He muttered as he lifted his tired body and sat up. 

"Haha!" The knight couldn't help but laugh, "I am glad to see you haven't changed much."

Wyrm huffed with exhaustion, "I don't think that's quiet true, just ask...anyone here." he yawned, "I've been told I have some major memory loss."

"Well, that can always be fixed! But it looks like your self-destructive habits still prevail." He said, then the conversation shifted a bit, "I'm glad you didn't forget me friend."

Wyrm gave a tired smile, "I may not remember much about our time together, but I could never forget my person."

Ogrim laughed, and decided to let the old king go back to sleep, but stayed in the room, he could tell that the last thing his friend needed was to be alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, back to writing, man I'm tired
> 
> Oh look, this one is heartwarming :)
> 
> What an interesting turn of events. Hope it stays that way (:


	27. Imprisonment Arc (NINE)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Garden of Poison

The old king had waited patiently for the palace to fall asleep, there was more than one reason for asked to be put in this room, the main one was the view of his lady's smaller garden, but another was for the easy access to the secret tunnels that littered the palace. The entrance to the particular tunnel he'd wanted to be near was under the desk, all he had to do was push back thin stone slab, of course, he was a prisoner here, he was still chained up, it made things harder, but not impossible. He moved carefully over to the space under the desk, pushed back the slap, and began to crawl through the tunnel. 

He didn't notice Ogrim still sitting by the bed, sleeping.

As he crawled he thought, he may have been dead, he may have some memory loss, but he remembered the fuzz of death, and the torment of being trapped with your own thoughts until it broke your very being, he shook his head, he had decided some time ago that he wouldn't allow himself to become trapped in his own head again. Of course, when you're alone more often than not, it's easier said than done.

He made it to his destination, shoving a long wood plank down over a small creek and exiting the tunnel, he'd expecting everything in his secret paradise to have died, but it stubbornly stayed alive, which was perfect. 

His secret paradise, a sprawling garden of nothing but poison plants, and a few medicinal herbs, it had its carefully crafted stone pathway intact. The plants are allowed to grow like they would in the wild, it's surprising that that path wasn't overtaken, but that didn't much matter.

He walked past each plant, being still able to name each one, recall the type of poison it carries, and the symptoms of those poisons, at least he remembered something fully. 

He briefly ran a hand along a branch of Monkshood, taking in the silk like petals and pale yellow color, then moved to the Foxglove, Star Gazer Lilies, buttercups, walking through each one until he made it to a large collection of bushes. Deadly Nightshade, he recognized them as, easily mistake for their edible cousin, the Elderberry, Nightshade hold a very potent Neural Poison, a single handful is enough to kill a full grown person. If a person ate them, they wouldn't know till much too late, for they taste sweet, and give off a lovely floral sent.

He stared at the bush and its deep black berries, a single handful. 

The Wyrm contemplated it, he could, it would end the suffering he seems to cause those around him. He reached for the bush.

_But it would hurt the ones who care_ , spoke this little, barely noticeable voice in the back of his mind.

There were footsteps behind him, he recognized the warmth, It wasn't Ogrim like a small part of him had hoped, Ogrim couldn't fit in the tunnels, It was the Nightmare King. He'd possessed his vessel, it seems.

"I had a feeling you lived." The Nightmare spoke

He didn't turn around, he couldn't find the will to.

"What are you doing in here? I understand you enjoy the company of these beautify dangerous plants, but you are normally only in here for the sake of teaching others."

"It's the only thing I can really seem to recall." It was an easy enough mask to hide behind.

"You were thinking about it again weren't you?" The Nightmare king got no response, "This isn't the first time, I'd know, I've seen your mind, But I think....this is the closest you've come to actually doing it."

"Why are you here?"

"I originally came to stop you, but it seems you, or maybe the voice of your Root, has done that for me." 

"Root?" He thought, he still felt the warmth of the love they shared, but also the pain the crack in their relationship caused, it ran deeper each day, "I've not seen her since she left, she wasn't at the trial."

"Come away from there, we can go sit by the medicinal herbs and chat awhile."

The wyrm thought, his hand was still outstretched. 

"Come on, it's not healthy to remain."

He pulled away, "Fine, I suppose I need the company, the solitude is getting to me." He admitted, following the other god through his sanctuary 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when was the last update? Ah....sorry for taking so long
> 
> Also, Trigger warning?


End file.
